Picket lines were up on Harbour Road for all of 5 minutes yesterday, as locked-out longshoremen found out a tentative agreement had been reached.
International Longshore and Warehouse Union president Rob Ashton said after the B-C Maritime Employers Association announced a lock-out on Wednesday, the two sides negotiated through the night to keep west coast ports open.
Ashton said the lock-out was set for 8 am yesterday, and his members were dispatched to various ports along the coast to picket, but were told to stand down after a tentative agreement was reached shortly after.
Union members were back to work for the afternoon shift yesterday, and will be voting on ratification within the next few weeks.
Port Alberni Port Authority Director of Operations Mike Carter was relieved the dispute was settled so quickly, as the Raw Spirit fish processor is scheduled to offload this week, and a log ship is due in port next week.
